The invention is related to man-machine interfaces with menu structures supporting various functions and in particular facilitating user interaction with the menu structure for setting or activating functions associated with handheld or cellular mobile phones through use of the menu structures.
As mobile phones have become increasingly complex, a great number of additional features have been included with mobile phones giving users an increased number of options and capabilities for use with their phones. A mobile phone herein after refers to any portable radio communication equipment such as mobile stations, communicators, so called electronic organizers or the like. In order to activate any function associated with the phone, it is typically necessary for a user to push a series of buttons on the phone in order to set or activate the desired function. Alternatively, some phones are provided with displays having menus that require the user to make a number of selections by stepping through a number of menu layers in order to find and set the desired function.
Menus are typically hierarchical containing various levels of associated functions. When using the menu in mobile phones to activate or set a function, it is possible to step through the menu by pressing arrow keys, or the like, for functions in the same level and &lt;YES&gt; or &lt;NO&gt; between the levels, for example. It should be noted that mobile phones with a graphical display typically present the top level of the menu through the use of icons, or the like. An example of such a mobile phone with graphically display menu is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,656.
However, with the increasing number and variety of functions provided in association with mobile phones, it is often impossible for a user to keep track of or even know all of the functions that are associated with any particular phone. As a result, if the user wishes to utilize a function that is unfamiliar, the user must carefully search and read through an extensive operator's manual or attempt to use the function from memory through a series attempts by pushing buttons or activating menu screens through trial and error. Furthermore, it is often impossible for novice users to even be aware of all functions or capabilities of the phone that can be accessed through the menu structure associated with the phone.
Also, new and experienced users both may have difficulty in remembering how certain functions are denoted and accessed because different companies may use slightly different names for commands and functions associated with their phones. For example, if a user wishes to have incoming calls transferred to another phone when the user's phone is busy, the user would want to know if this function is provided by their particular mobile phone and if so how to activate it. In this situation a user must either refer to the operator's manual or rely on previous experience. User interviews illustrate that the common user is normally reluctant to "look things up" in a reference manual and, as a result, many of the phone's features are not used and the mobile phone's capabilities are not exploited to their fullest extent.
Additionally, even if a user is familiar with a function it is often difficult for the user to remember the exact position of every function in the hierarchy of levels of the menus. This requires the user to step through a number of menus by trial and error to find the desired function.
Even if the user is familiar with the location of a function within the menu structure, in order to activate the function the user must still step through a number or series of menus in order to reach and set the desired function. This can be frustrating to a user of a mobile phone with a large number of functions, requiring the user to spend an undue amount of time to set or change the desired functions. This can also lead to functions going unused and result in the mobile phone being used in less than an optimal manner.